Go and Announce the Gospel of the Lord

At the end of every Mass we usually hear the priest or deacon say, “Mass has ended, go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” or sometimes “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” It happens so often we usually don’t give these words much thought. Instead we manically say in response “Thanks be to God” and then proceed to sing the closing song. We breeze over the fact that we were just commissioned to spread the Gospel with the people we meet in the week. We fail to realize that as members of Christ’s body we have just been reminded of our responsibility to live our lives as an example of the faith giving glory to the Lord with our actions. One of the last things that Jesus said before His Ascension was,

“Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15

It was instructions for the Apostles to share His story and message of love and hope to all the world. These instructions are known as “The Great Commission” and it is this same commission that we are given at the end of every Mass. Imagine how different our week would be if we took this commission to heart? After all we are the Body of Christ and it is our job to continue Christ’s ministry. In the words of St. Teresa of Ávila,

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which He looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are His body.”

We are His body and it’s up to us to announce the Gospel of the Lord! Let us share God’s message of love and hope with all the world.

Be the Light!